As the sound of a bell loudly echoed in the Cangxuan Sect, countless disciples raised their heads and cast astonished gazes towards Saint Genesis Peak.

Because they knew how huge this was to the sect...

Saint Genesis Peak was established by the patriarch long ago, and possessed a tremendous amount of cultivation resources. However, due to the seal, these resources had been unable to see the light of day. Now that Saint Genesis Peak was reopened, it would perhaps not be long before they would grow strong once more, causing the Cangxuan Sect’s overall strength to rise.

Despite the significance of this event, numerous disciples were even more shocked and bewildered by the one who was at the root of it... Zhou Yuan.

Although his performance in the chief disciple selection had been spectacular, most disciples had not been optimistic about his attempt at challenging the mountain trials and reopening the main peak.

Only because the difficulty was far too great.

Hence, why the many disciples were so shocked and in disbelief when the final result was revealed.

No one had imagined that a disciple, who had joined the sect a year ago, would accomplish such an amazing feat.

After all, an achievement on the level of establishing a peak was something shared by only the few peak masters in the Cangxuan Sect. Although Zhou Yuan had only reopened Saint Genesis Peak, the shock value of the deed was still rather high.

Zhou Yuan had done what so many chief disciples of Saint Genesis Peak had failed to in the past. This was enough to show how outstanding he was.

After this matter, his status in the Cangxuan would likely surpass the other chief disciples, and maybe even catch up to the ten great Chosens.

...

Snow Lotus Peak.

Li Qingchan gracefully stood on a certain mountain peak, her beautiful face directed towards the soaring jade light from Saint Genesis Peak with a look of amazement appeared on her face.

"He really did it." Mumbled Li Qingchan, as a complicated look arose in her eyes. She was someone who had witnessed Zhou Yuan’s rapid progress over the past year.

He was just like a sea sponge, frantically absorbing the sea water around it to enrich itself. No matter the difficult or risk, nothing had been able to stop him.

Such tenacity made even Li Qingchan’s heart tremble a little.

She had previously been unable to understand why someone as amazing as Yaoyao would willingly stay at Zhou Yuan’s side. In Li Qingchan’s opinion, someone as outstanding as Yaoyao should live in a completely different world than Zhou Yuan.

No matter how she looked at it, Zhou Yuan did not deserve to stand at Yaoyao’s side.

As such, she always felt a pitying feeling like a flower was growing in dung when she viewed the two of them. However, Zhou Yuan had repeatedly surprised and amazed her over the past year, slowly changing her initial opinion.

Perhaps, what Yaoyao saw was the potential hidden within him.

...

Sword Cometh Peak

Three figures were seated facing each other in a stone pavilion.

Kong Sheng frowned slightly as he looked in Saint Genesis Peak’s direction and slowly said, "He does have some ability."

Zhao Zhu’s expression was quite ugly. He had previously stated that it was impossible for Zhou Yuan to reopen Saint Genesis Peak, and he never imagined that the latter would actually succeed.

Beside the two of them was the newly promoted chief disciple of Sword Cometh Peak, Bai Liche.

He was currently frowning as he looked towards Saint Genesis Peak. As the chief disciple of Sword Cometh Peak, Bai Liche felt Zhou Yuan to be his lesser.

In his opinion, a chief disciple, who fought his way to victory from those little kittens and puppies from Saint Genesis Peak, had no right to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

Even Yuan Hong, whose strength was at least acceptable, was an opponent that Bai Liche was confident of suppressing. After all, he had always managed to do so in the past when the former was still part of Sword Cometh Peak.

Hence, he was not at all concerned about Saint Genesis Peak’s chief disciple, Zhou Yuan.

However, the huge fuss Zhou Yuan had suddenly caused would cause his reputation to begin overwhelming the other chief disciples, including himself, the chief disciple of Sword Cometh Peak.

This made Bai Lichu feel quite uncomfortable.

Bai Liche looked towards Zhao Zhu and said, "Senior brother Zhao Zhu need not brood over such matters, Zhou Yuan was just lucky that’s all."

Zhao Zhu replied with a dark expression, "He has caused such a great loss to our Sword Cometh Peak, that even peak master secretly erupted in anger a few times. He’s truly a pain in the neck and I feel that it is time to teach him a lesson."

He looked towards Kong Sheng and asked, "What do you think, senior brother Kong Sheng?"

Kong Sheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, considering for a moment, before he said, "Teaching our junior brothers some humbleness is indeed what we senior brothers should be doing."

His fingers gently tapped the table as he said, "This year’s Genesis reservoir ceremony should be about to begin, right?"

Zhao Zhu and Bai Liche’s eyes brightened when they heard this.

The Genesis reservoir ceremony was naturally related to the Genesis reservoir. Normally speaking, only purple sash disciples were allowed into the Genesis reservoir every two months, while ordinary disciples could only watch with envy from the outside, or stay in the outer area to absorb some of the pure Genesis Qi that leaked out.

However, there was an exception.

At the start of every year, the sect would open the Genesis reservoir to everyone without restriction. Any disciple could enter to try their luck, as a sort of reward for the year of hard work they had spent in their cultivation.

This was the so-called Genesis reservoir ceremony.

However, there were also certain rules in place. Dragon Genesis Essence was not obtained individually but by the entire peak.

When the Genesis reservoir ceremony was over, the total amount of Dragon Genesis Essene obtained by the various peaks would be evaluated by the sect, and then the disciples of each peak would be awarded the appropriate level of Genesis Marrow Baptism.

The scale would be tremendous with disciples from all seven peaks entering the Genesis reservoir, which would also naturally lead to conflicts between them. The upper echelons of the sect did not forbid such conflicts as long as they were positive and competitive in nature. It was after all also a form of training for the disciples.

Kong Sheng looked towards Zhao Zhu and Bai Liche, before shifting his gaze towards the far away Saint Genesis Peak as he smiled, "What portion of their final haul does Saint Genesis Peak pay to our Sword Cometh Peak as tribute last year?"

"Twenty percent. We gave face to Lu Hong’s faction, and only collected a twenty percent protection fee last year." Zhao Zhu also smiled.

Every Genesis reservoir ceremony, the sect would stimulate the Origin Dragon vein, which would in turn greatly boost the dragon Qi in the reservoir. As a result, the number of aquatic beasts would soar in both numbers and strength, creating quite a challenge for the various peaks.

Fortunately, each peak was overseen by their respective Chosen, allowing them to deal with giant swarms of aquatic beasts.

The only exception was Saint Genesis Peak.

Saint Genesis Peak was not only the weakest but also the least in number. In previous years, their participation was essentially a joke, and a small mistake was it would take for them to be besieged on all sides by aquatic beasts and losing their qualifications. Saint Genesis Peak grew smarter later on, and seeked aid from the other peaks. In exchange, they would give up a portion of their Dragon Genesis Essence as tribute. To be blunt, it was basically a protection fee.

This matter was one of the running jokes in the sect.

It just so happened that Saint Genesis Peak usually seeked aid from Sword Cometh Peak.

"Twenty percent huh..."

The corners of Kong Sheng’s mouth curled slightly as he said in an offhand manner, "Tell them that we want fifty percent this year."

Bai Liche began to laugh. "Saint Genesis Peak’s morale is at an all time high, and they even have a chief disciple now. I’m afraid they won’t agree to these terms."

Kong Sheng softly chuckled as a strange expression emerged in his eyes.

"If so, they will have to depend on that mighty chief disciple of theirs..."

"The waters of the reservoir are quite deep. I’m afraid that the chief disciple they have great expectations of will not be up to the task..."